“To be perfectly honest, I said up front, ‘I won’t really be able to be good at the two things at the same time, rehearsing a show like this and being Dad,'” Grammer said. “They were all quite lovely about it, and went to Hawaii.”

La Cage is Grammer’s Broadway musical debut. His previous Broadway credits include Othello and MacBeth.

As previously reported, Grammer will begin the Broadway run in the role of club owner Georges, and after six months switch to the role of Georges’ partner and star of the club’s drag show, Albin.

Both roles are quite a departure for the star and for those of us who know him best as straitlaced Seattle shrink Frasier Crane. Crane (whose deadpan ex-wife Lilith was played by Broadway regular Bebe Neuwirth, who is back on Broadway in The Addams Family) first appeared on the hit show “Cheers” before moving on to star in the spin-off, “Frasier.” The five-time Emmy Award winner is also the voice of homicidal clown/maniac Sideshow Bob on animated series “The Simpsons.”

La Cage aux Folles begins previews April 6 at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre, with an official opening April 18.

To watch the interview, click here.

—Gemma Wilson